1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to optical connectors, and in particular to a backplane for distributing operational signals to an array of independent disk drives through optical, self-healing interface connections.
2. Description of Related Art
In one type of a redundant array of independent hard disk drives (RAID), the individual disk drives receive operational signals from the host computer through a fiber optic backplane. A single fiber optic cable extends along the backplane and is distributed to a series of fiber optic junctions. The fiber optic junctions must be readily equipped to detach from one disk drive and reattached to another since some of the drives will inevitably fail, and some applications require the drives to be frequently replaced. When a drive is removed from a junction, the junction must relay the optical transmission downstream with minimal losses. Unfortunately, each prior art, fiber optic junction typically causes about 6 dB in losses in the transmission of the signal. Thus, although prior art designs are workable, a more efficient optical junction for disk drive fiber optic cable backplanes is needed.